ChronicleWatch: Working for a better Bay Area

Delfin Vigil

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, October 2, 2003

Photo: CARLOS AVILA GONZALEZ

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; The new clock on the Golden Gate Bridge toll booths is hard to see because the hands are not illuminated. Event on 09/30/03 in San Francisco, CA. Photo By CARLOS AVILA GONZALEZ / The San Francisco Chronicle; on 9/30/03 in San Francisco. CARLOS AVILA GONZALEZ / The Chronicle less

; The new clock on the Golden Gate Bridge toll booths is hard to see because the hands are not illuminated. Event on 09/30/03 in San Francisco, CA. Photo By CARLOS AVILA GONZALEZ / The San Francisco Chronicle; ... more

WHAT'S NOT WORKING

Look Ma -- no hands! That's what ChronicleWatch tipster Sean Kennings noticed while checking the clock above the Golden Gate Bridge toll plaza. Although the clock's hands are visible in daylight and under normal weather conditions, "When approaching the toll booth in the fog or at night, you can see the numbers, but not necessarily what time it is, because the hands don't glow in the dark," said Kennings, who lives in Sausalito. The clock is a brand- new replacement -- time had taken its toll on the original, which lasted for decades until it was removed in July.

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Status: Mary Currie, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, told ChronicleWatch that illuminating the hands on the new clock, which cost $20,000, would have nearly doubled the price, so the agency opted against it. She pointed out that the neon-lit hands on the original clock burned out 30 years ago and were never replaced. But she said workers have removed the hands on one side of the new double-faced clock and are trying out inexpensive reflective materials in an effort to come up with a cost-effective solution. In light of the state's budget crunch, Currie said that if the experiments fail, commuters will have to live with the clock the way it is.

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